Most motorcycles have their windshields rigidly mounted in place as a solid structure which does not move relative to the motorcycle. The windshields are generally made from tempered glass which can break into multiple small pieces or from hard material such as acrylic, and the like. During an abrupt stop or in an impact from an accident, the motorcyclist is thrust forward. The impact with the hard plastic or glass has been known to cause head injury to the cyclist. Windshields made from break away materials such as tempered glass have been known to break into shards from the impact which can cause severe lacerations to the face, neck and upper torso.
Over the years attempts have been made to have some fold out capability to a motorcycle windshield. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,387,349 to Campbell; U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,110 to Vetter; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,315 to Barstow. However, there are many problems with these attempts.
The Campbell '349 reference requires a separate piston arrangement to be clamped to a steering wheel which both can obstruct the field of vision of the cyclist as well as be a hazard to the cyclist if an impact or accident occurs since the cyclists can easily hit into the obstructing piston post.
The Vetter '110 reference requires a fairing with an upper edge having a recessed seat 30 where the bottom of the folding windshield is fit into, and hinges attach the bottom of the windshield to the separate fairing. In addition to the expense of requiring a separate fairing, this devices requires extra hardware such as clips 18 to secure edges of the windshield in addition to the flat hinges 16, and would appear to be expensive and difficult to manufacture and attach onto existing curved motorcycle windshields or fairings.
The Barstow '315 reference requires an unsightly continuous hinge contraption that also adds extra weight and substantially greater expense to the motorcycle over typical windshields
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.